Neurodiversity-informed Practice: Co-regulation as a Foundation for Wellbeing
At PSG, we support many neurodivergent children, young people, and adults whose emotional experiences are shaped by unique sensory needs, communication styles, and ways of understanding the world. These differences shape how people experience and express emotions, which means support also needs to be flexible, individualised, and rooted in understanding. This includes everyday situations such as managing sensory overwhelm, responding to big emotions, coping with changes in routine, or expressing needs during moments of stress. In our work, this means taking a relational, strengths-based approach to emotional well-being.
Emotional Regulation — A Skill We Grow Together
Emotional regulation refers to the ways we notice, understand, and navigate our emotional responses. It involves recognising what we are feeling, expressing those feelings safely, and using strategies that support us to stay grounded or return to regulation after stressful moments. Emotional regulation is something we all develop over time, and the journey looks different for everyone.
For many neurodivergent people, emotional regulation is closely connected to sensory experiences, predictability, communication preferences, and feeling understood by others. These factors help explain why relationship-based support is so vital.
Co-regulation — Where Safety and Connection Begin
Co-regulation is a relational process in which a supportive adult offers calmness, connection, and attunement during emotionally demanding moments. It doesn’t assume that a young person is “unable” to regulate, instead, it recognises that regulation is fundamentally relational. All of us rely on others at times to feel steady, safe, and emotionally held.
Repeated moments of attuned co-regulation help children and young people build trust, understand what support feels like, and gradually develop their own authentic regulation strategies in a way that aligns with their neurotype and preferences.
Co-regulation in Action: Everyday Moments That Matter
Within PSG’s services, co-regulation shows up in many small but powerful ways:
Creating sensory-safe spaces: Adjusting lighting, noise, or visual stimulation to reduce overwhelm and support emotional safety.
Using shared and accessible language: Gently naming emotions (“This feels really big right now, I’m here with you”) helps build understanding without pressure.
Supporting regulation through movement: Going for a walk together, bouncing a ball, or pacing alongside someone who benefits from movement-based regulation.
Respecting communication preferences: Reducing verbal input, offering AAC, or quietly staying present when someone communicates best non-verbally.
Modelling regulation in real time: Saying things like “I’m going to take a breath because this feels a bit much, we can slow down together” shows what regulation can look like without demanding it.
Co-regulation’s Impact on Neurodivergent Wellbeing
For many neurodivergent young people, emotional overwhelm can be linked to sensory overload, unexpected changes, communication challenges, or feeling misunderstood. Co-regulation provides a buffer, a consistent, attuned presence that helps the nervous system settle.
Over time, these relational experiences help people:
• feel emotionally safe • identify strategies that genuinely work for them • express needs more confidently • build self-regulation skills in an authentic, non-pressured way
Embedding Co-regulation Across PSG Services
Across all PSG services, from Transforming Care to school-based support to behaviour consultancy, co-regulation is woven into everyday practice. Our teams design supportive environments, prioritise connection, and help families, carers, and staff understand the importance of relational safety in emotional wellbeing.
Co-regulation reflects our commitment to person-centred, neurodiversity-affirming support. It is not about controlling emotions; it is about building connection, trust, and the conditions in which people can thrive.
